Sunday, December 29, 2013

Nuclear Terrorism in India?

Most of us don't spend a lot of time focusing on terrorism in India. You might not have even heard of the Indian Mujahideen or "IM". As you might have guessed from the name, it's an Islamist extremist outfit bent on teaching those Hindus a thing or two. According to The Times of India, one of IM's leaders was intent on detonating a nuclear weapon in Surat.

The prospect of terror organisations getting their hands on a nuclear device has long concerned both security agencies and thriller writers. Now, it seems Indian Mujahideen India chief Ahmad Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal too was thinking along similar lines. Bhatkal recently told interrogators that he was planning to explode a nuclear bomb in Surat, according to sources.

Bhatkal was arrested on August 27 in Pokhra, Nepal and has been constantly questioned by the NIA, Intelligence Bureau and police of several states. TOI has accessed the interrogation report.

Bhatkal told the interrogators that he had asked his Pakistan-based boss, Riyaz Bhatkal, over phone whether the latter could arrange a small "nuclear bomb". According to him, Riyaz responded, "Anything can be arranged in Pakistan".

"Riyaz told me that attacks can be done with nuclear bombs. I requested him to look for one nuclear bomb for Surat," Yasin told the officials.

"Riyaz told me Muslims would also die in that (nuclear bomb blast), to which I said that we would paste posters in mosques asking every Muslim to quietly evacuate their families from the city," Yasin said, according to the report.
Fortunately Indian security types snatched Yasin off the streets in time. Just the thought of the Indian-Pakistani nuclear exchange this would likely trigger is horrific.

6 comments:

It is more easier for Indian Mujahideen to get Indian nuclear bomb. They have strong relations with security personnels of Indian nuclear programme. Their allegations on Pakistan are baseless and fake. They are just making fictions and myths to show Pakistan in bad lights.

Availability of Indian nuclear weapon or realted material to Indian Mujahideen will be in reach of these extremists. They are having relations with the offocers deployed over the nuclear facilities. Other than that, India also doesnot have proper safety and security mechanism for the operation of nuclear power plants, leakage of nuclear material is there.Putting allegations over Pakistan is just a propaganda against the safety and security mechnaism of its nuclear weapons program.

Nuclear terrorism is an emerging phenomenon which widely got concern after 9/11. The chemistry of nuclear weapons is absolutely different other than any conventional weapon. It’s not at all easy or common sense to assemble the parts for nuclear explosions. This is one of the tactics of nuclear weapon state to dissemble the parts at different locations of the state in order to avoid any nuclear theft, accident and misperception. The question of Indian Mujahidin is equally applied to many extremist movements of the country. There are number of separatist and religious extremists ‘movements in India by the very Indian nationals. The threat of nuclear terrorism comes from Indian antigovernment moves which are active on all parts of country. India should stop its nuclear obsession now as its posing a threat for the whole world in the case when no comprehensive security mechanism is established.

I would like to thank you all for your engaging comments. On my side of our planet these matters routinely go unnoticed yet they affect all of humanity.

Yasir, I can grasp how this could be used as a political football by the Indian security forces. After all, they're telling us a reality they were supposedly able to extract from an Islamist under "interrogation." Of course it has to be treated with some scepticism.

Sara, do you have anything concrete to support your theory? I had always thought of the Indian force as quite professional.

Zoonal, thanks for your commentary. As someone who lives on a North American island in the Pacific, I'm eager to learn. Please don't hesitate to add more.

NIA of India has missed a lot in plotting this new allegation on Pakistan, nuclear weapon is not a game that can be played easily or some can get hold of easily. News about Yasin getting nuclear bomb are fabricated and the picture representing shows an alarm clock by a Sikh just want to get up early in the morning. Further paid to say few things about terrorist activities otherwise he could have been shot by extremist Hindus as they always do with Sikhs.

I am of the opinion that this is an event which we will see very shortly. It's just a fact of reality that if you go on and on pushing people around and harrassing them and just tormenting them in general, eventually, they will do something. But why settle on doing 'something', when with a little bit of extra effort you can start a world war? It's coming folks, and sooner than most think.